Cabinet incubator



2 Sheets-Sheet l me/nto@ Sept. l5, 1931. J. o. GRoss CABINET INCUBATOR v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 7, 1929 Patented sept. 15, 1931 Tes UNITED ESTA PATENT eprice JOHN o. caesaer LITTLETON, coLoRAno CABINET INQUBAToR applicati@ inea December 7, 192e. serial No. 412,460.

.5, circle transverse to the length of the incubator bya Vrotary fan extending practically thefull length vofthe incubator.v

Afurthe'r object inthis connection is to so'ldisp'ose the fan that itis outv of the way i9; and `in such position that there is no danger ofv an attendant vbeing struck by the fan upon opening the' doors ofthe incubator.

A further object in this-connection is to provide means for` securing a proper circulation'of theair which will not be in the nature of a forced draft nor a mere stirring up of the air, butin which the air will be given a circular movement, bringing the entire volume of air contained in the incubator into motion, thus leaving no pockets or corp y ners of ydead air.

n heating means and A further object is to divide the incubator into units and provide each unit with a heater, preferably an electrical heater, these heat- .ers being controlled independently for each unit so that each unit has its own separate preferably an automatic regulator therefor. f Another object is towdivide the incubator v,into unitsas they may be termed, each unit having a rack adapted to contain a plurality Vof trays and the racks being either independently or unitarily oscillatable so that the racks may be tilted to an angle of each way byy a leve-r at the rear of the machine.

Another object is to provide means whereby the trays may be inserted into the racks fromV the front of the incubator, the trays being mounted for movement on aXes extending-transversely ofthe length of the yincubator but parallel to the movement of the air and the racks being so Vconstructed as not to require that the trays be fastened in the racks before the racks are turned or tilted.

Another object is to provide an incubator having a special heating compartment with racks for hatching trays, 'which section may be operated only during the heating time or `-for three days per week, thus effecting a saving during the balance of the week of` four days.

Other objects will appear in the course of the followingdescription.

My invention is illustrated in the accom. panying drawings, wherein z- Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view through an incubator constructed in accordance with my invention;

yFigure 21s a section on the yline 2 2 of Figure 1'; i

Y Figurey 3 is a sectionon `the line 3-3 `of Figure 1. e

` Referring to these drawings, l0 designates the outer casing ofthe incubator which may be formed upon its rear and front with doors whereby accessmay be had to the interior of the incubator.r Extending longitudinally of they incubator from end to end thereof isa fan shaft 11 having thereon the fan blades 12. This fan shaft rotates in a counter-y clockwise direction in Figure 2 in order to cause a circulation of air'` upward at the back of the incubator forward over the egg trays, downward at the front of the incubator and then again rearward and may beoperated by any suitable means, as for instance, anv

electric motor, not shown. nPreferably the fan shaft will be rotated at a relatively slow speed so asy to secure a gentle rotatory movement of the air, as shown by the arrows in Figure 2. An angular baiile V13 extends longitudinally of the casing justabovethe fan and just in front of the rotary axis of the fan so that the air'y will travelin a circle, asshown in Figure 3.

Extending Atransversely through the incubator from front to rear and supported in any suitable frameV 14 arethe shafts 15 shown asy three in number, each shaft carrying upon it an egg tray rack, designated gener ally 16."l Each rack is rectangular in form and each rack is provided with'the parallel cleats 17 upon its sides forming guides into which egg trays 18 may be inserted. The rear'end of each of these shafts 15 is adapted to be' engaged witha crank or like means whereby theshaft may be rotated to tilt the rack from a horizontal position to a position of 45 or a small handle may be mounted upon each shaft whereby the shaft may be so tilted and means may be provided for limiting the movement of this handle.

It will be seen that I have provided three,

of these racks 15Vand beneath each rack, there is preferably disposed a heater 19 which ispreferably an electrical heater having a thermostatic control. shown diagrammatically as any suitable electric heater may be used; Y y

' Partitions may be providedbetween the racks 16 to thus separate the incubator in compartments one flor each rack. Under these circumstances, each compartment will have its fan 12,'its own heater 19 and its own i water pan 20 for the purpose of humidifying the airwithin the compartment. Where the ment 21k isprovided which may be entirely Y' separated from the remainder of the fincu` bator or not as desired, this compartment being provided with racks 22 for containingv hatching trays .23," these racks being xed so that the trays are: held in a horizontal position.

Inthe use of this incubator,- eachsetting of eggs is placed vin its own special com-vr partment or rack under its own regulator and not mixed with all ages of eggs, asis the case withV other 'cabinet' incubators. Three'incubating sections permits of'a setting each week, which will, of course, bring ofl' a hatch each week. The hatching sectionv of compartment 21 is not to be operated vexcept during hatching time or vthree days per week, thus effecting a Vsaving' during the balance of the week of four days.

The tiltableracks are so formed that the trays may be placed in the rack fromthe end running parallel withthe axis of rotation. Y This does not require that the trays be fastf ened in the racks before the'racksare turned. If thetrays are slipped vinto thezguides of the racks, the trays cannot fall out when tilting.

'The advantages of myinvention lie in the fact that I secure a gentle wcircular movement of the air which .brings into mot-ion the'entire volume of air contained 1n .the f lncubator.

and automatic regulator. The-construction is very simple, the regulation of the heat and moisture is relatively easy and the removal* orreplacement of the racks is easy. Y v

Obviously manyminor changes might be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as defined in the yappended claims.

- I claim This heater `visonly.

l. An incubator of the character described having at the rear lower portion thereof a longitudinally extending fan shaft extending the whole length of the incubator, fan blades mounted upon said shaft, and a plurality of racks disposed above the fan, each of said racks being mounted on an vaxle extending from front to re-ar of the incubator, kwhereby said racks may be tilted in they longitudinal plane of the incubator, each rack having means extending parallel to the axis of the rack for supporting a plurality of trays therein, Teach rack being independently tiltable with relation to any other rack.

2. An incubator having a plurality of racks .mounted therein for tilting movement in a longitudinalplaney of said incubator,

each rack having means for holding aV plurality of trays, one endl of the incubator being formed to provide ahatching section having horizontal racks tok recei\'e egg trays, means associated with each'incubator rack vand with the hatching rack to heat the air immediately adjacent the racks, and means extending longitudinally of the incubator rearward of,

and beneath said racks whereby the air withinthe incubator may be .caused to circulate from the rearto the front of the rack. Y,

Y In testimony whereof I affix my signature. JOHN O. GROSS.`

`T his air is heated for each section, each sec-A tion having its own' separate heatingV unit 

